Many HCM users with approval authority for Template-Based Transactions (TBTs) are likely familiar with transactions that are stuck in their approval queues — long outdated requests for approval that may have been accidental duplicates, contained flawed data or are otherwise unable to be cleared by the approver or the requester.

These stuck approvals aren’t affecting other day-to-day approvals, but they create “noise” within HCM that can make it difficult to identify recent and legitimate requests at first glance.

Over the coming months, Employee Services will be working to clear up the backlog of stuck approvals. Transactions will be reviewed manually to ensure that only outdated and irrelevant transactions are cleared.

What this means for HCM users

The team working on clearing outdated approvals will attempt to contact the user who submitted the requests before the clean-up begins. Users who submit requests for approval may receive automated email notifications that notify them when stuck approvals have been dismissed. These notifications can be disregarded.

Users with approval authority should be aware that their count of pending approvals may fluctuate as cleanup efforts occur. This is especially important for those approvers who have become accustomed to mentally gauging their approval “inbox zero”.

Ultimately, this cleanup process will take some time, but it won’t change the day-to-day process of submitting and approving transactions. Users should closely monitor their approval inbox to ensure they’re seeing current transactions needing approval.